Box car construction



Allg- 1, 1933- G. F. zAuN B0X CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed May 25. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l /I '/'TRNE Y .lull

Aug- 1, 193? G. F. zAUN Box CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed May 23, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NI/ENTOR ar e aum ATTORNEY G. F. ZAUN BOX CAR CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 23, 1951 n,... A U

MNHN@ A TTORNE Y Aug. 1, 1933.

Patented Aug. 1,1933

STATES PATENT' OFFICE 1,920,455 ,Box CAR CONSTRUCTION George F. Zaun,.: San Bernardino, Calif.' ApplicationMayizis,1931. semaine. 539,506 s Claims.' l (ci. 1055-375)- Thisfinvention relates to box car construction and particularly to a box earof the refrigerator type.v The Ainvention has for an object the provision of a box car having certain oor ventilation fea tures. These Ventilation features are accomplished by incorporating in said box' car rack members.'v The inventor is aware that Various box cars have been constructed which 'embody racks,.but so far asthe inventor is aware, most of said racks utilize usable space within the car. TheA present inventioirlias for ran object the provision of racksfor the oor. of the car, which racks-may be interfolded in` such a manner r as to give practically the iulljinside lengthioi the car for the purpose oi receiving commodities.

In one aspect, the invention has for'an object the provision of a novel formele rack adapted to be incorporated in a box car or the like o wherein the rack will not catch cleats on work,

such as box cleats. i Another object is ,the provision in a box 'of 4avv plurality oi rackv members adapted to operate when in one position soas to overiie car cothe Without anyliability of the workman catching his hands during a folding operation,

Another object is the provision of `a plurality of racks maintained in vhinged relation, and in such a manner that Wear is removed from the hinges when the racks are in extended position resting upon an object. Y

Another vobject is the provision oi means adapted to cooperate with racks forholkling the racks in a given position and insuoh manner that space is saved" and the liability of said means contacting with objects other thanthe racks is overcome. i f

The invention has for further objects the provision of means oi the character stated which is simple of structure, inexpensive yoffmanufa ture, and superior to the present racksf used for box cars `where savingofspace is considered.V

With the above and other objects in View, the Ainvention consists inthe novel and Vuseful provision, formation; construction, associatiomfand f fioor of the'box car, andrwhich may be `:foldedl Y Figure 2 is a transverse sectional View on the line2-2 of Figure 1, Figure Seis a fragmentaryfplan View, partly in transverse section, oi the'car shown in Figure-1, il s Figure 4 is a plan View of rackmembers incorporating the invention,

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the rack meme bers shown in Figure 4,

Figure 6 is aview talen substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 4, the `Viewbeing partly'in Section," Y. i p- Figure 7 is anelevation showing the racks Figure 5 in closed position, 'Y

Figure r8 is a detail of the hinged connection existing betweenftwo of therack units,

Figure 9; is a. fragmentary detail, partly in section, of the. hingedrelation that exists between rack units other than those shown in Figure'S, t i

Figure 10 is a detail of` a catch which may be utilized in practicing the invention,

Figure 11 is a vsectional view on the line 11-11 oi Figure 10, and,

Figure 12 is a fragmentary detail of certain elements of the invention looking 'in the direction of the arrows 12-12 of Figure 7;

Referring lto the drawings, I have shownoin Figure 1 a. box car a commonly known as the refrigerator type,-in that both ends thereof, as shown at` 1 and 2, are `adaptedto receive refrigerating material, such as ice 3;- It is customary in a refrigerator car to provide racks of some type for the floor fi of said car, to the end thatventilation is possible in the car, and particularly when commodities are resting upon the racks. Obviously, the ice or other cooling material 3 keeps the interior of the oar at a low temperature sothat the commodity, if it be fruit or Vegetables, does not spoil. Y

At the present time, it is oustomaryto place within a refrigerator car racks which are removable from said car and these racks are often thrown out by the'truckmen and are seriously damaged. `Repair of the racks, and provision Loi new racks, is a constantly recurring expense.

With my invention, I secure racks tothe car in such a manner as to become an integral part of said car,` and further the racks are so arranged and so grouped in theirlassociation With the car that little space is occupied by the racks. To accomplish this very desirable result, I :do not groupmy racks along a side Wall lof the car? but propose to place the racks adjacentwthevbulkheads and, infact, abutting the mounted slats 10.

bulkheads at both ends of said car. In addition to this, I have so arranged my racks that they interiold and nest closely together, to the end that two racks occupy substantially the space that would be occupied by one rack. Further than this, when the several racks are closely nested, I secure them against movement in'such a manner that no extraneous objects are presented for contact with any edibles or other perishables housedwtihin they car. Thus, the floor of the car may be readily cleaned or the car may be utilized for other purposes and with out interference from the racks.

I am aware that various ,systems have been` employed inthe past for securing the racks both to the side walls of a car and adjacent the 6i and 7 `are substantiallyin alignment whereas the rails 9 for the racksshown at 5 and 8 are out of alignment with the saidrails of the racks 6 and 7. The railsQ for the racks at 5 and 6 are adapted to be in hinged'relation andinthe manner illustrated in Figure 9, wherein facing sides of the two railsare inV spaced overlapped relation and with said facing sides, inthe present instance, reenerced or bothl provided with a wearplate 12.` `A spacing member 13 isfinterl posed betweensaid plates 12 and a bolt v14 having its head counter-sunk asshown at 15 within one of the rails, is passedthrough aligned openingsin the said rails and the spacer '13, the bolt securing said rails. and spacer in the usual Y most rails 9. Thus, I groove-the slatsl adjacent ends of said rails, as illustrated at 18. The hinges employed are of thev double or two-way type, in that said Vhinge includes a pair of strap Vmembers 19 having knuckles 20, between which knuckles and on opposite sides thereof are links 21 and 22. with pintles 23 and 24 passed through Y the links and said knuckles and secured in the ordinary manner.v The hinge straps. are secured to the rails andthe slats-by passing elongatedV bolts through the straps and openings inthe rails and slats, in the manner shown in Figure 8 at 25.

It Will be observed that what might be termed the adjoining endsY 26 and 27 of the rails for the racks shown at 6l and 7 are curved and spaced apart from-.the hinge point to the base of the adjoining rails.l This structure is illustrated in Figure 8. The hinged relation existing between the racks 7 and 8 is` the same as that existing between the racks 5L and 6;.

l n We thus have four racks joined together at three` hinge points. It is intended that the size of the rack should be sufficient to equalv substantially half of the inner transverse Width of the car and sub*- These lslats have edge poi'- tions adjacent the tops thereof rounded as A,sllown at 1l. The rails 9 for the racks shown at stantially half of the internal length of the car. Therefore, the last rack 8 would have the end slat thereof substantially on a median line of the door-way 28 of the car. The rack shown at 9 is adapted to be secured to what might be termed a sub or end rack 29. This rack 29 comprises a single slat 30 suitably mounted upon its end rails 31. The outermost rails are turnably secured to angle members 32, said `angle members being fastened to the iicor 4 of the car, Toaccomplish this, bolts 33 are passed through the rails and a leg of the angle members 32, as shown in Figure 6. The last slat 34 of the rack shown at 9 is hinged to the slat 29 through the medium of a hinge of the car illustrated in Figure 8 and, accordingly, like reference char actors willrapply. The slats shown at 29, 34 and 35 are Vtransversely bored, as shown at 36, for

ventilation purposes and all the slats may be bored if desired. Certain of the slats in the severalfrack members are provided. with elongated transverse slots 3'7,y whereby the hand' may be passed through said slots for gripping `the slats to move the racks. l

The rack shown at 8 is provided with a transverse face plate 38 at the portion of said rack adjacent the'doorway 28. The last rack 8y has secured to one ofthe rails, for instance, the rail shown at 39, 'and substantially paralleling the said rail, an elongated casing 40. This casing has the lowermost end thereof closed and the upper end open, and may be secured to the rail by providing the casing with side anges through which screwsvare passed for reception insaid rail, as illustrated in Figure 7 at 41. Adjacent lthe open end orf the casing is placed a J -bolt 42, l

thisv bolt being securedv to therail shown at 39 and in the manner illustrated in Figure 12. Adapted for reception within the said casing and .toV be confined' in said casing, isv a linkchainAEi,

one end of which carries a ring 44. The size of the ring. with relation to the .lv-bolt is such that the ring cannot be withdrawn from the casing, as shown in dotted linesl in Figure 7.

That portion of the car adjacent a bulkhead is adapted to have one of the upright members thereof recessed, as shown at 45, within which recess'is received a swing catch designated generally by 46. This swing catch is conventional in form, including a member 47 which is fastened to the upright and carrying a swinging member 48. This swinging` member is ordinarily held against the member 47 through the medium of a slip ring 49. gage an eye 50 secured to the chain-43.v

yThe operation, uses and advantages of the invention are as follows:

In the present instance,v and considering a standard size car, Irhave utilized two pairs of The swing catch is adapted to engrouped racks, each group including four rack 0" members. maintained in hinged series. The auxiliary or sub racks 29` are four innurnber and are placed in pairs adjacent the bulkheads. Hence, the general appearance of the racks when overlying the oor 4` of .the car will. be that illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, inclu-sive.` If we assume first vthat the `racks are alleverlying the door of the car, it will be seen that the hinged relation that exists is such asto allow the racks to rest securely upon the iioor without imposing any strain'upon the hinges, due to the fact that I have used link type hingesfor certain of the racks, to wit,.the racks `6 and 7, and the same type of hinges between the sub rack and the rack shown at 9. There can be no buckling between the racks, due to'this hinge construction. If the racksare down, trucking may occur over` the racks and the various commodities, whether perishable or not, .may be stacked upon the racks and adjacent the side walls of the car. The rounded edges of the racks allow for boxes to be pushed over the racks without the cleats .of said boxes being engaged by the racks.

If, after the racks have been used, it is desired to fold them in order that other material may be stored within the carthis may be easily done by one man. A man grasps the rack shown at 8 by passing his hand through the hand hold 37, whereupon he moves said-rack: in such aY manner that a pyramiding action occurs between the racks 7 and 8. This will occur due to the hinged relation between said racks. Duel to the link type of hinge that exists between the racks shown at 6 and f7, he may then drop'the racks 7 and 8 which are nownested together, for the reason that the rails thereof are permitted to lie adjacent each other and substantially parallel. It will be. observed in this connection that the rails of the racks shown at 8 will lie adjacent the slats of the racks shown at '7 and vice versa. By grasping the slat having the hand hole 37 of the rack 6, thisrack may be pyramided relative to the rack shown at 9 and finally the rack shown at 9v is moved relative to the said rack 29 and in such a manner'that the sub rack pyramids the rack shown at 9, whereupon the racks will assume the appearance shown in Figure 7, with the slats all in substantial parallelism and closely abutting. All of the rails will be substantially parallel. The loop or ring 50 is nextengagedby the nger so as to pull the chain from the casing 40, whereupon the slip ring 49 is moved to allow the swing catch to'operate and secure the loop 50. Thus,` the racks will be securely held in the position shown in Figure '7.

By placing .the racks adjacent the bulkheads, I have found that space is saved within the car. These racks, by actualtest, are shown to only extend substantially .ten'inchesfrom the bulkhead when the racks are closely nested together in the manner shown in Figure 7. Where Adoule rack systems are utilized that are Vadapted to extendv along the side of` the car, it will immediately be seen that for a car some 33 feet in length, that the racks would occupy considerable space, as each group of` racks would extend out approximately ve' inches from the side wall. vIn considering the height ofthegcar, it will immediately be seen that this entails considerable loss of space that might otherwise. vbe utilized. linV other words, it is equivalent to reducing the transverse width of the car some ten inches. Furthermore, the present construction permits boxes and barrels to align together` because there is no obstruction on the side walls, as would .be the case where the boxes and barrels are piled one upon the other. If

side racks are utilized, the barrels and boxesV could not be aligned throughout the full height.

of the car.

When folding. the racks, the construction of the hinges permits the racks to interfold in such a manner that the hands cannot be injured, as

is self-evident upon inspection of the drawings.

Y action heretofore described for nesting the racks lcations and variations maybe made in prac- 1 ticing the invention and adapting it to various uses. and purposes other than for the one described, without however departing from the true spirit of the invention..

I claim:

1. Improvements in racks for box cars and the like,vcomprising a pair of racks maintained in alignment, hinge means for securing the racks in working relation, one of. said racks being provided with a housing, a link chain within said housing `adapted to be extended therefrom, and a swingcatch secured to the box car for lengagement with said chain for securing the racks in substantial parallelism.

2. In railway box car construction having a bulkhead, a plurality of hingedly related rack members, said rack members being adapted to be relatively moved to bring said racks in substantial parallelism, and a normally housed Y head, Ythe racks of both groups being adapted 'f for movement to nest the same. in substantial parallelism adjacent said bulkhead, a housing for one of said racks, a link chain within said housing and adapted to be extended therefrom, and a swing catch secured to thebulkhead for engagement with said chain to in turn secure the 'racks when in substantial parallelism.

' GEORGE F. ZAUN. 

